UK regulators warn airlines over ‘serious problems’ ahead of summer peak

The UK’s aviation and competition regulators on Thursday warned airlines over “harmful practices” in their treatment of passengers this summer and said they could take action against the sector if “serious problems” persisted.

The Civil Aviation Authority and Competition and Markets Authority expressed concern that consumers could “experience significant harm” unless carriers handled the issue of flight disruption more effectively.

Staff shortages across the aviation industry have prompted airlines to cancel tens of thousands of flights this summer.

Although many of the cancellations have been in advance, passengers have also suffered from a spate of last-minute cancellations and delays.

In a joint letter the CAA and CMA said they were “concerned that some airlines may not be doing everything they could to avoid engaging in . . . harmful practices”. Such practices included selling more tickets than carriers could “reasonably expect to fly” and not looking after passengers properly when flights were cancelled.

“We expect airlines to ensure they closely monitor their likely ability to ensure flights take off as scheduled, and do not continue marketing tickets for flights if they cannot be reasonably confident they will go ahead,” the agencies wrote.

The letter said there were concerns over airlines not “always fully satisfying obligations” to offer to reroute consumers if flights were cancelled, adding that carriers had “failed to give consumers sufficiently clear and upfront information” about their rights upon cancellation.

Airlines including British Airways and easyJet trimmed their schedules after concluding they would not be able to fly as many journeys as planned this summer.

The regulators said such advance cancellations were preferable to last-minute disruption, did not single out any airlines for criticism, and noted that there was evidence that refunds were being paid on time, unlike earlier in the pandemic.

Industry body Airlines UK said carriers were “fully committed to delivering for their customers” and adhering to “robust consumer regulations”.

“Taking customers on long-awaited holidays and building resilient summer schedules is our number one priority right now, and something the whole industry, working together with government, is focused on,” it added.

The regulators’ intervention marks the latest push to try to ensure airlines handled their operations more effectively in time for the busiest part of the summer over the next few weeks.

The government last month ordered airlines to review their schedules to ensure they were realistic and changed rules governing airport landing slots, making it easier to cancel flights in advance.

It has also published an aviation charter to raise awareness of consumer rights.

There is some evidence that airlines are getting on top of the worst of the disruption. The percentage of cancelled flights in the UK fell from 3.03 per cent at the start of June to 1.18 per cent in the first week of July, according to aviation data provider OAG.